Dan McNeil Signs Off At The Drive in Chicago

Dan McNeil, a veteran sports radio host who’s enjoyed a lot of success but had numerous clashes with management at multiple Chicago radio stations, is out after 16 months at “The Drive” WDRV FM 97.1 according to a report from Robert Feder.

Hubbard Chicago VP and Market Manager John Gallagher confirmed that McNeil has left the radio station and is free of his contract. McNeil was said to be making $250,000 per year and had been signed through March 2017. Terms of the settlement weren’t available but McNeil is said to be able to accept employment elsewhere, effective immediately.

“I know the term is something of a cliche, but in this case, it just really was a ‘bad fit,’ ” Gallagher said of McNeil’s brief tenure. “Dan brought a lot of value, but it wasn’t the expectation that the audience had for the station.”

“It was a very amicable separation, and nobody’s mad at anybody,” McNeil said in an interview Thursday. “The audience has indicated to us that they’re there for the music, and it makes all the sense in the world for the radio station to respond to its customers. That means a little less of a couple of guys flapping their gums every morning. So with a reduced role on the show, it was time to press the reset button on this and just go our own way.”

Pete McMurray, McNeil’s partner on The Drive since February 2015, will move forward hosting mornings solo. Producer Scott Miller and news anchor Kathy Voltmer will remain on board, and additional changes to the show are expected.

As for McNeil, he said he plans to finish a book that he started working on two years ago, and he’ll entertain conversations with stations who might be interested in retaining his services. He added that he feels he still has 10 good years of radio left in the tank. He wouldn’t confirm having conversations with 670 The Score, but local sources say he has reached out to discuss a possible return.